Method for gasifying, igniting, and controlling the combustion of fuel.



METHOD FOR GASIPHNG, GmTmG, AND GONTRGLMNG TEE GOMBUsToN o? FUEL.

APPLIUATIGN FILED 00'1214. i908.

'i 952993, aente lfa. L ww.

@a @j if@ v the igniting point of the fuel, and then said VVOLCOTT REMINGTON, 0F STALIFORD, CONNECTICUT.

METHOD FOR GASIFYING, IGNITING, AND CONTROLLING THE CGMBUSTIGN 0F FUEL.

951,093. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. I, E910. Original application led February 25, 1908, Serial No. 417,795. Divided and this application led v October 14. 1908. Serial No. 457,789.

I pass through the products of combustion and, therefore, imperfect combustion takes place.

After a series of experiments I have dis- To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be itltnown that I, lVoLoo'r'r REMINGTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stamford, in the county of Fairfield andl State of Connecticut, have invented certain covered that perfect combustion of the oil or new and useful In'iprovements .in `Methods l other fuel may be obtained by compressing for Gasifying, Igniiing, and Controlling the air, or air and vaten-vapor, t0 Such a degree Combustion of Fuel, of which the following I that its temperature is above that'necessary is a specification. i for vaporizino' the fuel, but below the tem- This invention relates to an improved l Pel'llllre et W lCh the fuel igntes, and hen method of gasifying and burning fuel in i injecting the fuel into the compressed-air in what are known as internal-combustion i vSuch a 11m-111191 that J PaSSeS hIOllgh the engines, and although limited to the use of no particular kind of fuel said invention is i into come@ Wlthh heeted Surface remote adapted to produce a perfect result with any FOIH the POIU 0f llllectlon he tem eretule ofthe heavy mineral oils. l of vhiih surface is sufficiently igh to In 'one method of va orizin and infnitinur Iglu e 1 i fuel kiioivn to me oil rstgvaporibzed b; Then this method 1S employed Wlth 111' tornai-combustion engines air is first coinpressed by the piston ,into a chamber 1n contact with a hot surface, the va or is then mixed with air and compresse and the,I

. communication with thecylinder of the en gine to such a degree that its temverature mixture is finally ignited either by an electric spark or by engagement with a highlyi 1s above the temperature necessary or boiling or vaporizing the fuel, but below the heated surface. In this method there is more or less cracking of the oil, and it is broken up into its elements sufficiently to temperature et 'Which the f ue lglltes, es cause separation of the carbon, which is alabove Steted- Aftee dus Operatlon has Ways detrimental. Furthermore, the coml teken Plecea and et 01' lust before the s-tfrtf pression before combustion takes place is @he Working-Stroke 0f the plStOl, fuel L S-lplimited to five or six atmospheres, as at lted llltO the Volume'of compressed air in about that point the mixture will re from .Sind chamberuandpassing through the Same the heut generated by its compression. In 15,51@ VHPOIlZe-d then eemesnto eonteet another method air alone is compressed to Wltll *he heated-Surface desellbed, nfd 1S ignited at a point remote from the point of in'ection.

such a degree'that its temperature is above al particles of fuel come directly into contact with clean compressed-air of a temperature high enough to cause their vaporization, and that when the rst particles of the now vaporized fuel pass through the compressed-air and reachthe heated surface they are ignited thereby, and that all siicceedingfparticles are ignited as they enter the flameproduced by the combustion of the preceding particles. Consequently, the flame of combustion will start at the heatedsurface, and will bui-'n back to the point of injection. l y

In engines built on this system considerable vvariation in s eed is permissible, as the ignition of the fuel) is caused by the he tedsurface described when its late through the volume of compressed-air and come into contact 'with said heated surfuel is'injected, combustiontaking place when it comesv into contact with the highlycompressed air. In this method mechanical dilliculties and heavy expense are incurred in manufacturing an engine in which this extremely highl compression can be maintained, and such engine when o erated by this method can not be reduce in speed much below normal, for if it were the Walls of the cylinder would absorb so much of the heat of com ression that the temperature of the air at tlie time of injection of the fuel would not be high enou h to ignite it. Again, in this method nonegliut the first particles of fuel which enter the cylinder at each injection come directly into contact with pure air, and as said particles are mediately i 'ted on .contact with theair, the succeeding particles must necessarily same', is vaporized thereby, and then comes It will, therefore, be seen that particles pereotace'. lit will thus be seen that the temperan ture of the heat of combustion will keep above the igniting point 'or ,the fuel independent ot the heat generated by the com pression of the air, and that, inasmuch as the tuel is vaporized at a point much belorv the temperature required for its ignition, the heat lost in radiation Will not materially affect the vaporization of the fuel. As only a. small portion of the Jfuel enters the chamber leading to the .c linder of the engine before ignition takes p acethere Will bebut a slight rise in pressure, after this the rate of combustion and the pressure will be entirely controlled by the amount of supply of the fuel. After cut-oli has taken place the Work is, of course, doneby the expansion of the heated gases. Should the load be increased the maximum pressure in the cylinders does not increase, as it simply continues for a longer portion of the stroke, and, conversely, with a decrease of load the inaxi mum pressure Will continue for a shorter portion of the stroke.

. From what has been stated it will be seen that the particles of food are injected into the volume of compressedair in the chamber at a point, for instance, abovethe heated surface, and that as such compressed-air is ot suilicient temperature to vaporize the fuel,

a mixture of fuel-vapor, and compressed-air v results While the feed-supply' iscoutinued.

and that the entrained particles ot vapor nally reach the heated-surface by which they are ignited. rl`he combustion of these first particles will cause that of the following particles, the propagation of the flame thus started extending toward the point ot' injection, but being so retarded by the torce ot injection of the fuel that it will only reachv the said pointof injection as the last articles of the charge enter the chamber. its the path of the combustion or 'flame is at Aall times surrounded by pure air and no particles ot the fuel are permitted to come into Contact with the -vvalls of the chamber alud only to a very limited extent with the heated bulb, the result of the combustion is very clean or complete instead of the usual residuum caused by the separating ot' the fuel into its elements upon Contact with the heated Walls ,ot the combustion chamber. rlihus complete combustion talles place, and after the cut-ollc the expansion of the gases causes the vvorlringstrolre et the piston. @Wing to this tact no tarry or: foreign reY siduum due to imperfect combustion* ot'- the :t'uel is lett in the cylinder to clog .the piston thereof.

While shown inthe drawings applied to a twofcycle internal-combustion engine it is distinctly to be understood that the invention is not limited in this respect; nor is it necessarily limited to internal-combustion engines, for complete combustion ot all par seneca j ticles of the fuel will take place VTwhen the sired, the solid fuels being introduced, of course, in a pulverulent condition.

In the accompanying drawings, one Jform of apparatus via-a two-cycle internal comand in said drawbustion engine is shown, n

partiallyan -ings Figure l is an end View Aany desired construction.

i which may be of detail views ot the feed- Figs. 2 and 3 are controlling cam.

Like characters designate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l designates the frame of the engine, said trame being of any approved type, y the crank-shaft carrying theusual ily-Wheel not shown, the inertia of Awhich causes the return of the piston and thecompression oi air in the chamber above the cylinder to a noint sulicient to generate heat necessaryto l l i olted to the frame or base l is a cylinder 4 in 'Whichavorksa piston 5, and in the exeinpliicatio'n given secured to the top ot said cylinder is a head 6 having a chamber Il 7 in which air is compressed by the iston i in the manner just stated. ln the cy inder j areillet-ports 8 and 9, through which fresh airus drawn by the pistom'and an exhaust l port'lO to permit theescape of the products i of combustion. Passing through the top of the chamber Tis a ,nozzle ll through which uel is admit-ted, said deviceheing, when hydrocarbon fuel is employed, a spraynozzle, and communicating With this nozzle is a i pipe l2 leading to an oilapump 13. Project j ing from the inner Wall 'of chamber 7 adjaj cent to its lower end is a hollow steel hemisphere 14, Wliichwill beheated externally by a torch in starting the engine, and is suhsequently kept hot enough to ignite the `tue] by the internal heat of "the chamber.

Designated by 15 is a bracket bolted to the frame or base l, and having an exteng an anti-frictionl roller ill at its and carryiu lower end. Adjacent lsaid roller the lever is provided with a flattened surface 29. against which bears the einltoii the piston rod Q3 oi the pump 18. Surrounding said piston-rod is a helical springfill located between a col l lar 25ct the rod and the end oil the pump.

section of an internal-combustion engine` and 2' va orize the fuel, but not to ignite the same. I ,f

lll() lll) A pipe 13 leads from the of oil-supply. j A depending bracket- 26 is bolted at its up- I per end to the Abase or frame l, and to the free end of said bracket is pivoted at 28 a l controlling-lever 29. At its lower end the controlling-lever is forked at 30, and the ,i arms of this fork are each adapted to receive l the trunnions of a yoke, fitted in a groove of a cam 31. This cam is of peculiar configuration, as will be presently described, and is i capable of sliding motion on the'engine-shaft l pump to the source thereby causing an objectionable flow and Waste of oil, therefore Contact of roll 21 with the low part of the cam is prevented by limiting the throw of the'lever 19 by means 'of an adjustable stop screw 35 threaded in a projecting lug 36 of the bracket 15. By manipulation of said stop screw the distance between roll 21 and the low part of cam 3l may be varied thereby changing the relative position of the crank at the time the oil starts to enter the cylinder and also the time of ignition. The ability to obtain this variation iti/the time of ignition results in better economy When running the engine lat different speeds, also -in the use of different fuels. The lever 19 is provided with ay handle 20 by means'of which the pump may be 2, a spline or feather 2 of which tits in a groove 32 in the inner wall of the cam. This cam varies in height, and it is made by first Working it out on a profiler to form the eccentric peripheral portion 33 extending from one end of its surface to the other. `lt is l then turned to true cylindrical shape beoperated manually if necessary.

tween the lines a and b, and then from the 1 By adjusting the pump either up or down line b tothe line c the eccentric portion will by means of the screw 17 the stroke of its be turned on a taper of one in ten, the line d i piston may be regulated, according to the representing the intersection of the tapered l location of the end of the piston-rod along part with the eccentric part c of the cam. the fiat surface 22 of lever Said cam may be adjusted along its shaft by adjustment to be made Without trouble the means of the lever 29, and the key 2 of said pipe 12 is formed into a coil at 12. shaft is so located that the cam Will be in pog By raising the pump in the manner desition to start the pump by acting against scribed the end of its piston-rod 20 is `the roller 21 of lever 19 at or just preceding i brought nearer the pivot of the swingingthe Working-stroke of the piston 5. An arj lever 19, and due to the shorter are of moverow 34. Fig. 1 designates the direction in 1' ment of the point of the surface 22 against which the cam rotates, and the pump will be l which the end of the rod rests, the pump started and the fuel will commence to flow j Will supply a less" amount of fuel, While by when the point-A of the eccentric part 33 of lowering said pump a reverse condition octhe cam engages the roller 21, and the pump curs, and there will be an increase in the Will continue to feed said fuel, the amount supplyof fuel delivered.

of supply being governed by the position of i This application is a division of lny apthe cam along its shaft. Should the cam be plication tiled February th, 1908, Serial held by the controlling lever so that the part nNumber 417,705.

f' thereof (F ig. 2) is opposite the roller 21 of Having thus described myinvent-ion, what the pump-actuating lever 19 the fuel Will I claim isiiow through that part of the stroke of the 1. The method piston 2O corresponding to the arc of rotaconsists `in first tion A-L of the cam. If any part of the degree that of consuming f uel which compressing air to such a its temperature 1s above the cam between the lines a and b (Fig. 2) vaporizing point of the fuel but below the. should be opposite the roller 21 the piston of I temperature at Which the fuel ignites, then the pump will not be actuated and there Will injecting the fuel into the compressed-air,

be no feed of the fuel. At. the point g of the cam, which Will be opposite the roller 21 atfull load, the pump will be actuated and the fuel will flow through that part- Of the pis-` ton-stroke corresponding to the distance vbetween the points AB .of the cam (Fig. 3), said arc corresponding to about one tenth of the piston-stroke, although it ymay vary in this respect. Between the points C and D (Fig'. 3) the piston-rod' of the piunp will be held advanced. After the roller 21 leaves the point D, the spring' 21 will return the piston and its operating lever 19 to normal positions in readiness for a repetition of the operation. I

Should the roller 21 Abe permitted to engage eam 31 through are A EF, irregularities in the surface of said cam would proand finally igniting said fuel at a point beyond the point Where it- Was injected. c

2. The method of vaporizing,igniting and controlling the combustion of fuel in internal-combustion engines, Which consists in compressing air to temperatureis above the temperature necessary for vaporizing the fuel. but below the temperature at Winch the fuel ignites, then at approximately the beginning ofl the Working-stroke of the engine injecting the fuel into the compressed-air, and, finally, igniting the now vaporized fuel at a point remote from the point of injection. 3. The method of vaporizing, controlling the combustion of consists in first compressing air Where its temperature will be fuel, which to a degree above the such a degree that it-sl duce a slight action of the puanp piston 19, and to enable igniting and temperature :1t which rho 'fuel vapo1'zes,bu i n testimony Wheeof affix my Signature below ibo vmpera'tul'e at hch the u/el il in presence ok two Witnessos.

'xgntes thon inecino' The "nel n such a g 1 TXT 1 lzmlle that it] pnssg through the conn? Y YVULCUTE REMLNGON pressed-air :md is Vaporzed, and mllyi `-Wnesses:

hl'nggng Sad fuel into Contact with u heat- GEORGE R. CLOSE, er1-sulfide@ by which it is ignited. 'i JOSEPH G. HOUGHTON. 

